As the race towards digitalization gathers pace, the digital skills gap continues to grow and is impacting industries across the board. From cybersecurity, data analytics, and big data to cloud operations and enterprise architecture, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) worldwide are facing an IT skills shortage. We take a quick look at why digital upskilling is key to survival, and how the shortage of IT skills is disrupting the digitalization journey of many companies – in particular those running an SAP system or planning to convert to SAP S/4HANA.
A Digitally Savvy Workforce
There’s no doubt about it – companies today need digitally savvy workers. Making sure their people are trained regularly on the tools, applications, and software that drive their business processes should be a top priority. Those that fail to digitally upskill their workforce will fall behind the competition and most likely fade away to extinction. Getting the best out of the digital landscape often also requires external support as systems and platforms evolve and are upgraded. But with the demand for IT support outweighing the supply of skills that are available, some businesses are faced with difficult decisions and have no other choice but to put their digitization projects on hold.
SAP Consultants – a Rare Breed
We are seeing the same scenario among companies running SAP. At recent industry events, we heard the same thing over and over again: “There just aren’t enough SAP consultants available!”. Skills-related issues are a huge stumbling block for SAP users, some of whom who are unable to move forward with their conversion to SAP S/4HANA or deploy additional functionality in systems such as SAP Business One, as they can’t get the support they need. Talking about the skills shortage back in February of this year, Geoff Scott, CEO of the American SAP Users Group (ASUG), said “We are going to feel the pinch of that skill gap. My word of caution is that as you think about moving to S/4 if you have not already, the ability for you to plan that migration may hit some turbulence related to skill gaps with your external partners. That’s something that you absolutely positively should consider”. Inevitably some of these SAP customers are halting or delaying their projects. At the other end of the spectrum are SAP implementation partners who share the same frustration and are unable to embark on large-scale conversions or implementations, as they simply can’t access all the additional skills that are required.
Faster, Simpler, and Cheaper Data Migration
Working with a data migration specialist like DMI helps to bridge this skills gap that is causing such disruption for companies planning to move to SAP S/4HANA. It can significantly ease the burden of data migration – with fast, automated processes for historizing, cleansing, and enriching data via an external platform which integrates seamlessly with SAP. What’s more, fewer resources are needed to migrate the data due to the high degree of automation. There are also opportunities to shut down legacy systems while enabling 24/7 direct access to historical information, driving down ongoing operational costs. With the 2027 deadline for SAP S/4HANA only a few years away, solutions like the JiVS Information Management Platform from DMI are one way to help businesses radically simplify and speed up their migration to SAP S/4HANA while dealing with the skills shortage that is currently a thorn in their side.
Read more here about the JiVS One Click Transformation approach from DMI.
See Statistics for 2021: https://www.statista.com/statistics/662423/worldwide-cio-survey-function-skill-shortages/
Source: https://ignitesap.com/skills-gap-sap-partner-talent-initiative/
